Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Pictures from Thanksgiving 2008

On the way to our Thanksgiving feast, we witnessed a rainbow. The shot was tricky because it was raining, I was driving, and my husband had no clue how to turn on my camera. It took a few tries, but then he got it.

Our photographer for the remainder of the day. A self portrait.

The centerpiece. I kind of thought this is where he was going with most of his pictures...

BUT(T), I was wrong. There were a lot of photos just like this one.

So, someone got Evan's, too.

I have no clue what this is. There were PLENTY just like this.

Friday's song:
Black Friday - Steely Dan - Barbie2be

PEACE

Black Friday

I didn't go out shopping.

I didn't decorate the house with lights and holiday decor.

I didn't eat much. I'm still stuffed from yesterday.

I didn't go for a run or walk. I'm still stuffed from yesterday.


However...
I did post a new blog. I decided to post all of my race results in one place. I purposely left out things like comments. It's a very no-frills blog. I feel like I'm missing a couple of races, but it looks relatively complete. I also managed to sort through the pictures from Thanksgiving. We let my 5 year old grandson be the photographer this year. Yes, there are pictures of peoples butts, photos with fingers, and pictures of, well... We're not sure what some pictures are. I'll post those later.

Yesterday's song:
Thanksgiving - George Winston


PEACE

Thanksgiving

Wishing you and the ones closest to you a wonderful and plentiful Thanksgiving!



Yesterday's song:
Tell Me Something I Don't Know - Selena Gomez

PEACE

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

I got this one (and the last one) from Smartypantz:

Your Observation Skills Get An A-

Hardly anything gets by you... You have a great memory and eagle eyes

How Observant Are You?

Honestly, I guessed on about three of the questions, like the phone letters, the venetian blinds, and the ceiling fan. Those things no longer have an industry standard. The venetian blinds I've used in the past had the strings on one side for both functions OR no strings, but a stick or remote control. My last ceiling fan turned both directions with a remote control. As for phones, they come with a full key board, such as a Blackberry. Perhaps the quiz should be named "If you're over 30, do you remember how observant you were?" Ha.

Yesterday's song:
Sidewalks - Story Of The Year

PEACE

Sidewalks

Activity: Walk
Date: 11/25/08 11:20 AM
Distance: 0.98 miles
Time: 0:31:35
Speed: 1.8 mph
Pace: 33' 20 min/mile
Calories: 95

This is what a walk at 1.8 mph with my grandson looks like:

All of these photos were taken by Evan, age 5.

Once we were home, the dog was begging for attention. Evan snapped one last photo, just for the sake of the dog.

Yesterday's Song:
Chicken Soup With Rice - Carole King

PEACE

Chicken Soup With Rice

I don't get out the the movies much, but we do rent or buy DVD's. My husband purchased Wall-e. I don't know what it is about that movie, but we have been watching it multiple times. It's that good. It's one of those movies that you catch something new each time you watch it. I should say that it's me that catches new things each time because I'm usually doing other things while the movie is on. I also liked the mini version of art through the ages while the credits rolled. My grandson LOVES this movie more than Speed Racer, and that's kind of a big deal.

On the running side of things, there hasn't been any. I thought something I ate disagreed with me on Thursday, but I'm still having flu like symptoms, with no appetite. Herbal tea and toast is about all I can deal with right now.

I did make my standard (when everyone gets sick) comfort food. Chicken soup. I really need to show someone else how to make my soup because there's nothing more comforting when someone else cooks for you when you feel crappy, and it didn't come out of a can. Maybe I can bribe my son into learning how to make this soup. At least he has some interest in setting foot in a kitchen. He's going through a Banana's Foster phase, and made that several times last week. My daughter isn't much for cooking from scratch. If push came to shove when it comes to cooking, my daughter could do something, but she'd be the first to order take out. There is hope for my grandson, though, since he actually asks to watch the Food Network with me sometimes, loves to crack eggs when we make cookies and is learning how to measure the ingredients.

Yesterday's song:
Rapper's Delight - Sugarhill Gang - Be A Good One

PEACE

Rapper's Delight

Friday evening the sunset was quite spectacular, and I made an effort to capture the colors while holding my big guns camera in one hand while holding the phone to my ear with the other. Not easy. The photo doesn't do the sunset justice, and I'm rather anxious for the city to get rid of those telephone lines that muck up any sunset photo I take from my backyard vantage point.

I meant to post that picture yesterday, but I was busy doing this:

There's a couple of gifts I need to get shipped right after Thanksgiving, thus, the early wrapping.

I go through gift wrap phases. When my kids were small, we used brown paper bags, red and green tempera paints, stencils and sponges, thick red yarn, and made our own gift wrap, which went with our cross stitch tree ornaments, popcorn and cranberry garlands. I loved that warm, home-y look, but the cats began to eat the popcorn off the tree. Then I went to work in the gift wrap department at a high end retail store. That's where I learned to make a lot of the wire ribbon bows I make now. We had to adhere to their strict gift wrapping rules and guidelines. Who knew gift wrapping had such stringent rules? It was like gift wrap military. The year after that I used nothing but gift bags. I've also gone through a burgundy and gold phase, and now blue and silver. I haven't tried purple yet, but that could be on the horizon. Maybe next year.

As for running, I didn't -- and now I'm feeling like a blob. I start fresh tomorrow.

Friday's song:
Another Brick In The Wall - Pink Floyd - Heffer Blog

PEACE

Another Brick In The Wall

Pat is part of a virus going around the blogs. You're supposed to post your fourth picture from your fourth file on your computer. I was intrigued. Here's mine:


I have no clue when this photo was taken. It's a dining establishment in La Jolla, CA. My husband uses the same computer for his photo files, so I'm guessing it's part of a building he was working on. I was hoping for something more exciting, unless you find pictures of walls, floors, ceilings, drywall and buildings under construction exciting.

Just out of curiosity, I went to the 5th file, 5th picture:


Surprise! A vaulted ceiling with a A brick wall. I should have known.

Yesterday's song:
Remember When - Alan Jackson - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

Remember When

Most daytime TV shows don't float my boat, however I'm a sucker for anything to do with cooking. While getting some major closet cleaning finished, I had regular network TV on. Each show had a segment about cooking Thanksgiving dinner, mostly all about the turkey. For me, the turkey or me making the food isn't the hard part. It's everything else. I think I've mentioned before, but it was a catastrophe when my mother-in-law did not make enough mashed potatoes. She made enough for 4 people and there's usually about 18 of us, and the kids were ready to declare war. Or how about the year there was a communication snafu of what to bring? There was one 9" or 12" pie per person = 18 pies. OK, an over abundance of pies isn't such a bad thing, but there were no green beans, cranberry sauce, salad or sweet potatoes. Then there's the time thing. What time is everyone showing up? One year my mother-in-law told everyone a different time to show up. Good times.

The funny thing about the missed mashed potatoes or the plethora of pies (and what ever else happened) is that, as a family, we will fondly remember those Thanksgivings. We were all together for one day, and that's all that mattered.




Yesterday's song:
Steal Away - Robbie Dupree

PEACE

Steal Away

Activity: Walk
Date: 11/19/08 10:34 AM
Distance: 3.00 miles
Time: 0:58:59
Speed: 3.1 mph
Pace: 19' 21 min/mile
Calories: 284

I decided to walk today instead of run, however, I took on the hill with the 16% grade. It's sort of like taking on several flights of stairs. It's really good for working out the hamstrings and quads.

Nutrition is OK, so far. I still need more low fat protein, though.

I'm still mulling around the idea of a running coach. I corresponded with two running coaches right after my surgery, just to make sure someone would be willing to work with me. I can't see how I run, but I know I'm running lopsided. I need someone who can tell me how to correct what I'm doing as I run. Part of that is building back the muscle I've lost in the right leg, and the other part is relearning running mechanics with my new situation. We'll see.

Last night my husband came home from work rather late. He has a new project, which means extra long hours. He was tired and just sort of put everything down on the kitchen table then went into our room to change. When he went back into the kitchen, he couldn't find a brown paper sack with his deli sandwich in it. He was planning on eating the sandwich for dinner. He said he knew he was tired, but he remembered bringing in the sack. He went back out to his car just to make sure he didn't leave it there. No sack. No sandwich. Then he looked through our room, thinking he might have mindlessly brought it in there. Nope. Nothing. THIS MORNING, I got up and took a look out of the kitchen window, as I do every morning. I yelled out to my husband, who was still in our room, "I think I've found your sandwich, or what's left of it." Apparently, the dog stole the sack with the sandwich and took it outside to eat it. There was deli paper and the brown paper sack ripped up and all over our back yard lawn this morning. When did the dog become so sneaky? She's never stolen food before, unless it should fall on the floor. Maybe the sack fell on the floor and my husband didn't know it? Maybe the dog conveniently knocked the sack on the floor? I don't know. At least my husband know knows he wasn't going nuts. There really WAS a sandwich in a brown paper bag.


Yesterday's song:
Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued - Fall Out Boy


PEACE

Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued

On more than one occasion I've been asked how I can come up with so many song titles for my blog posts. First, depending on what I've written, I 'll think of song titles that might work with the blog post. If I come up with nothing, I'll ask my son. He's pretty quick to come up with an obscure song title if tell him the blog topic. If he isn't around I'll check my iPod. On the rare occasion my iPod search isn't fruitful, then I'll resort to searching iTunes.



Yesterday's song:
Oh Happy Day - Aretha Franklin - Barbie2be

PEACE

Oh Happy Day

I've been tagged by Penny - Planet Ynnep Running for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks, Penny, for the honor!

I'm supposed to name 6 things that make me happy and then tag 6 fellow bloggers....

1) The first and foremost thing that makes me happy is myself. I'm not trying to sound all self righteous, but I have to make myself happy first before I can be happy with anything else. After all, doesn't true happiness come from within?

2) My family at home, which would mean my husband, kids and grandson. Through lean and plenty, thick and thin, crazy and sane, we've always stuck together.

3) My friends. I have great friends. Many of them have moved afar, but we still keep in touch. I also have many new friends, and it thrills me to no end that I continue to meet such wonderful people.

4) Running. Running still makes me happy, even though I've endured pain because of it, kind of like childbirth... sort of. I can still solve all the world's problems when I go out for a run (even though it's now much slower) and feel some sense of accomplishment afterward.

5) Creativity. I cannot imagine my world without art, music, or creating anything -- food included. Even though the last time I drew or painted something was in helping my grandson with his homework, art is still the core of my being.

6) Home. My home needs a lot of work and repairs, and will be a work in progress for years to come. I've worked so hard to get here. I love where I live, though, even if my backyard is half kept and half barren, and we need to rip out the old fence, re-roof, make the kitchen bigger, and add on a master bedroom. It was my grandparent's house, built in the late 1940's. I'm hopeful we'll bring it back to how beautiful it once was, way back when.

Now I must tag and bestow the Kreative Blogger Award to these 6 creative people:

Anne

Barbie2be

Not Soccer Mom

Leslie

Katie

Evelyne

Yesterday's song:
Sketches - Daniel Lanois, Dan Fogelberg - Barbie2be

PEACE

Sketches

Mother and Child
Erik Morton 2005

Yesterday's song:
Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On) - The Everly Brothers, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss


PEACE

Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)

One of my indirect goals for fall and winter is to get rid of things I no longer need or use. Many items are clothing that are a little out-dated or I just don't wear. Getting rid of clothes wasn't so hard. Letting go of my old running shoes is another story. One pair was worn the first time I ran a 15K, another pair took me through my second round of marathon training. Then there's the pair that cost more than any other pair of running shoe's I've ever owned -- those shoes dug into the sides of my ankles after a 12 mile run and I haven't worn them since. I can't forget about the pair I bought on sale, which are a half size too small, but they were good for putzing around. I was with my brother when I bought those, and he even bought a pair that he still runs in. I have no more room in my closet for my running shoes. I've counted and there's 15 pairs in my closet. Seriously. That doesn't include the two emergency pairs I have in my car and the pair I'm wearing right now. I realize that some people have way more running shoes than I do, and others probably only have one or two pairs of running shoes. For some reason I just couldn't let go of my running shoes. I still have the pair worn at my first marathon, but those have since been retired to gardening duties. I guess the hard part is that each pair of running shoes tells a story of where I've been and how far I've gone. Even the boxes have the mileage written on the inside lids, just so I can keep track of how many miles I've gone in that particular pair of shoes. I also need to keep in mind that these shoes are just things and have served their purpose. My old running shoes will go in the donation bin at Road Runner Sports, and hopefully, my shoes will be used by someone who really needs them more than I do. It's time to bless and release.

Just so you know, I've donated of 7 pairs of my running shoes and the boxes have gone into the recycle bin.

Thursday's Song:
Words - The Bee Gees - She Do Run Run

PEACE

Words

I find this quiz rather funny because I'm constantly finding errors in my own writing.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Yesterday's song:
Move Along - All American Rejects - Barbie2be

PEACE

Move Along

Activity: Run
Date: 11/12/08 10:02 AM
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time: 1:30:56
Speed: 4.8 mph
Pace: 12' 37 min/mile
Calories: 689

I did a run/walk at Mission Bay Park and managed to get in 2 extra miles. Since I went a little earlier than normal, I used my Ipod shuffle. I usually reserve the Ipod music for the gym treadmill, but since it was still early enough, I figured I wouldn't have to deal with as much foot and bike traffic as I would encounter on the weekends. 7 Nation Army and Mr. Brightside did come in handy to give me just that extra push.

I need to take a camera with me on my walks and/or runs. Sometimes I see things and people that just amaze me. I do have a camera on my cell phone, but it trips off the run tracker when I take a picture. Maybe the next time I go on a planned walk I'll take the monster camera.

Speaking of my cell phone... It's toast. I really need to upgrade. It used to hold a charge for days, even when using the run tracker. Now, when I use the run tracker, it holds a charge for about 2 hours if I'm lucky.

Yesterday's song:
Inspiration - Gipsy Kings

PEACE

Inspiration

This one is worth watching.




Yesterday's song:
C'est Moi - From the movie Camelot

PEACE

C'est Moi

I've been DOUBLE TAGGED by Evelyne and Donna!

Here are the rules:
Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I had a crush on Richard Harris when he played the character of King Arthur in the 1967 movie Camelot. I was all of 15 years old when I finally saw the movie for the first time in the early 1970's.

2. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

3. I don't like to use the word "hate." It's just so strong a word. I prefer/try to say "intensely dislike."


4. I'm very sleep deprived. I'm a light sleeper and my husband snores.

5. I'm bad at growing out my fingernails. I don't bite my nails, it just bothers me when my nails get a little too long. I still get manicures, I just don't have super long nails.

6. I can play the opening guitar rift to the song "Jessie's Girl."

7. Reading in a moving car makes me sick to my stomach.

I tag anyone who has not been tagged yet!

Yesterday's song:
Run It Back Again - Corbin Bleu

PEACE

Run It Back Again

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK! Finally.

I've just participated in my first run event since my injury back in May.

The Shelter Island 5K was held this morning. I went for a PW (personal worst) and I'm just giddy. I was shooting for just under 40 minutes and they clocked me at 33:30. There's no special details to my run other than I was running at a slow and steady pace the entire way. AKA Alice and friends were there, I saw several people from the track club, and there was a champagne brunch served afterward. My husband was with me today, and I completely expected him to finish with or just ahead of me, but he spent his entire Saturday building a house with Habitat For Humanity, and was still sore and tired from that. I set my BiM for the race but forgot to turn it off at the end because they said my name as I ran in, and it just threw me. They've never called my name as I finished a race before. That was weird. It was a fun event, and maybe even more fun because I didn't put any pressure on myself to PR. There's something to be said about going for a PW, especially when you're not a tremendous amount of pain.

Here's a pre run photo op with AKA Alice and friends.

It's hard to see, but I'm wearing my PDB t-shirt. I decided to shrink down the logo so I could get more wear out of the shirt. I had purchased a black t-shirt just for this race but the iron-on transfer was made for light colors and didn't show up on the black fabric.

Here we are, post race, post brunch, post champagne, and happy...

It just occurred to me that I didn't snap any pictures of my husband. He's the one who played photographer today. I'll post race pictures of him when those become available in a few days.

Here's my results:
552 IRENE M 315 49 23/53 F San Diego 33:30 10:47

and my husband's:
630 MICHAEL M 316 50 30/36 M San Diego 36:40 11:49

Yesterday's song:
Fancy Meeting You Here - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney

PEACE

Fancy Meeting You Here

LAST NIGHT
Last night I met running blogger Penny. She's in town with her son scoping out a couple of the colleges here. A while back she had posted a picture of herself wearing a chicken hat during Oktoberfest. I thought it was pretty funny and wanted to know about getting one. Well, much to my surprise, she brought me the hat! I intend to use the hat for work related parties, kind of like payback. Long story, but my boss has this thing for making us wear ridiculous hats on special occasions.


TODAY
Activity: Run
Date: 11/08/08 08:50 AM
Distance: 3.01 miles
Time: 0:33:57
Speed: 5.3 mph
Pace: 11' 17 min/mile
Calories: 288

I met with Penny, AKA Alice and Betty for a 3 mile run at Seaport Village. AKA Alice and Betty live HERE, and I've never actually met them, although I'm sure we've seen each other plenty of times at track club runs. I don't know why we haven't really met until today. They know my husband because he ran at about their pace during marathon training. It was fun running with other people again. I actually did better.

Penny, AKA Alice, Betty

AKA Alice, Betty, Me

Penny brought her dog, Velcro, along for the run. What a sweet and well behaved dog! I wish I would have taken a picture of Velcro, but she's there in the picture above, at the bottom left corner.

Yesterday's song:
Tight Fit - Chaka Kahn


PEACE

Tight Fit

Activity: Run
Date: 11/07/08 11:37 AM
Distance: 3.08 miles
Time: 0:37:30
Speed: 4.9 mph
Pace: 12' 10 min/mile
Calories: 297

and

Activity: Walk
Date: 11/07/08 12:18 PM
Distance: 2.55 miles
Time: 0:39:46
Speed: 3.8 mph
Pace: 15' 47 min/mile
Calories: 243

I went down to the bay to get in my run. I decided early on that I wasn't going to run the entire way. I set my BiM to the run setting for the first 3 miles, because that was my initial goal - just the three miles, then I stopped to refill my water bottle at 3.08 miles and switched my BiM over to walk. I got in 5.63 miles total.

I also wore the new Pumas. They seem OK, so far.

After the run I made my way to Target for a cheap tech t shirt for my Pink Dumbbell iron on logo for the run on Sunday. I bought a medium black tech t shirt from the boy's department for only $3.00. I held it up to the women's XS and it was pretty much the same, but the women's XS wasn't on sale. I wanted a boy's size L but I couldn't find one that was plain. I think the boy's size M will work. It's cut kind of big. For $3.00, I'll make it fit. Heh.

Running blogger, Southbay Girl, is here in town with her son today. I'm hoping to hook up with her tonight. It's always fun meeting running bloggers because you sort of already know them, well, at least their running habits. I'm also looking forward to meeting AKA Alice at the 5k on Sunday. We may have actually met before, in passing, through the track club. I know my husband has run with some of her friends while training for the last marathon, since they ran around the same pace. It will be fun to meet and re-meet AKA Alice and friends. I'm also hoping Anne will make her way to the 5k, but if not, I'm sure there will be another run function we'll both be at in the not so distant future.

Yesterday's song:
All Good Gifts - From the musical Godspell

PEACE

All Good Gifts

Yesterday was pretty incredible. What a turn out of voters!

Activity: Walk
Date: 11/05/08 11:43 AM
Distance: 1.65 miles
Time: 0:31:47
Speed: 3.1 mph
Pace: 19' 21 min/mile
Calories: 155

Today I mustered a 1.6 mile walk. I wasn't feeling all that great, so I cut my walk short. I never used to be like that, but I guess I lost the endurance for pushing through. I have to build back some sort of endurance or tolerance for my monthly gift from mother nature... *sigh* What the heck happened to me?

On the upswing, the track club had another shoe testing event today. I stood in line for a very limited supply of test shoes, unlike last time, where there were shoes left over. I did managed to come away with a pair of Pumas - Complete Concinnity III. I am not as excited about this pair of shoes as the last pair, which were Adidas Adistar Rides, but we'll see how I do once I get out there and attempt to put in some mileage on them. Time will tell. The Men's shoe selections and sizes were rather sparse. They ran out of Men's shoes almost right away. I was also hoping to see some of my track club friends, but I didn't see anyone this time, however, I did have some nice conversations with the women in front of me.

Yesterday's song:
Freedom Of Choice - Devo

PEACE

Freedom Of Choice

I did.

Did you?




I was tagged by Leslie for this list:

6 Things I value:
Well being
Family and friends
Honesty
Kindness
Respect
Peace


6 Things I don't value
Jealousy
Hate
Disrespecting other's beliefs or values
Gossip
?
?

I'm supposed to tag 6 people, but I'll leave that up to you.


Yesterday's song:
Kind and Generous - Natalie Merchant - The Constant Trainer

PEACE

Kind and Generous

Halloween came and went. My grandson was rather disappointed when we took down all of the ghosts, spiderwebs, pumpkins, lights, scarecrow, and all the other Halloween decor we had put out. As for trick or treating, the kid made out quite well. Our neighborhood is rather generous and gives out full sized candy bars or lunch sized bags just packed with candy. Due to his recent dental work, he is not allowed to have caramels, toffees, or any chewy, gooey candy. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) that was most of his candy. He received a lot of Snickers bars and other similar chocolate candy with a caramel center, and those are on the no list. There was plenty of candy left for him to select from, and he's allowed a couple of pieces after school. My son and his friends ended up with the candy on the no list, so all is well in our household, and those Snickers bars are no longer tempting me.

My daughter ended up winning third place for her costume at a huge Halloween party. She came home with a Batman DVD and the bronze-third place skull.

Now that Halloween has passed, I'm going to make yet another attempt to get back on board with weight training and paying closer attention to nutrition again. I'm starting over as if I had never lifted a weight, and today was the first day. It's hard to hold back and not go heavy too soon. I know I can go heavier, but the problem is getting the weights from the weight stand to the bench. If I could have someone hand me the weights, I could go heavier, but since I workout alone, I have to stick with the 5 pound dumbbell weights for now, and just do a few sets with high reps. I got into trouble last time moving the heavier weights from the weight stand to the bench because the muscles in my right leg are still relatively weak. I did get in an OK workout today, but it wasn't anything to get my endorphins going. It's a start. As for the nutrition part, I did OK today. I'm working on even carb/protein/fat ratios with in 1600 calories, 5 days a week. I may have to tweak the caloric intake up a bit when begin to run more. It was a little carb heavy today, but I'll work that out. I just need to do some mindful grocery shopping.

Sunday's song:
November Has Come - The Gorillaz

PEACE

November Has Come

Halloween has come and gone, and I'm still waiting for Fall like weather to stick around for more than a day or two.

Here's a few pictures from our Halloween:

Evan as Racer X (from Speedracer) and best buddy Jacob as The Blue Power Ranger.

Evan and Me as Mini Mounse (I had to do something with those ears from our Disneyland trip earlier this year!)

Erik as one of the characters from The Gorillaz.

Renee as an Aname character with Evan.

No Halloween pictures of my husband. He went as himself, but everyone called him "Evan's Grandpa."

Yesterday's song:
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

PEACE